Superman Goes Communist

National Review Online ^ | May 4, 2004 | Alexander Rose

[Akira]

"Superman: strange visitor from another world! Who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands.... And who, as the champion of the common worker, fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, Socialism and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact."

[Akira]

USSR bump

[TheBigB]

Comic ping!

[Dr Snide]

If I remember right during the build up to the Iraqi War there was a Superman issue where the President was Lex Luther and had ordered an evil pre-emptive war against an innocent middle eastern country which Superman opposed or some nonsense. It appears that the comics are becoming propaganda for the left like other media outlets.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

Glad to see the author finally emerged from the lead mine. DC's only produced about 5 zillion "Alternate Universe" stories in the past 40 years, starting with Flash # 123 in 1961.

Eventually, the DC universe became so full of alternate worlds that they consolidated the whole thing in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986.

In the past 10 years, DC has produced numerous "Alternate Reality" stories under the "Elseworlds" imprint. One story might show Batman as Sherlock Holmes fighting Jack The Ripper. Another might have Superman as a hero in the Old West.

The reason graphic novels cost more than regular novels is that graphic novels are printed in color, on better paper, and usually have smaller print runs. Plus a lot of regular novels aren't all that cheap anymore. Paperbacks will typically run $6.99 or more cover price, and hardbacks will run $22 to $30- even lame, non-believable pieces of alternate reality fiction like Hillary Clinton's book.

[TheBigB]

That'd be this thread here...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/955744/posts

[T'wit]

Stalin's buddy Adolf would have appreciated "Uebermensch."

[Future Snake Eater]

...and there is some fun to be had in cameos by Batman (now wearing a fur hat and working as an anti-socialist vigilante)...

How does Superman ending up in the USSR change Batman's past? Boy, that writer sure is willing to make some amazing changes to sound off on his political agenda. I wonder if he's been torn apart by rabid fan-boys yet?

[pawdoggie]

You'd have to have a world full of "Supermen" to make a system like communism work.

[mhking]

[Yawn].

This is tale from DC's "Elseworlds" line. A "What-If" story.

"What if baby Kal-El's rocket landed in Russia instead of Kansas?" Everyone is up in arms over this, and for no good reason.

Ah. I forget. Everyone's heads are in the sand over this, so it's "eeeeeevil."

Not only that, the three issues were issued what, a year ago? The graphic novel format is actually much better for those of us who don't want to fight the fanboys crowded around the counter at the local comic shop. $17.95 for the three-issue series? Considering the original was somewhere between $$5 & $7 bucks a pop, that ain't too much to plunk down for better paper, a decent binding and a package that fits better on my bookshelf. Add in a reasonably good story, and you'll get a sale from me and thousands of other people.

Message to the author: Take off the tin-foil. It makes you look foolish.

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[laotzu]

you always knew Batman would never stoop to kill the baddie when the cops weren't looking

Bob Kane's, & Frank Miller's, Batman would. He would playfully torture them for a while first. He wasn't a super-hero. He was a psychotic killer out for vengence. I loved that Batman.

[headsonpikes]

Superman and the others are reifications of ideal human types as sketched out in German Idealism, the bastard spawn of French Philosophy.

The totalitarian word made flesh, so to speak.

Just an opinion. ;^)

[BlueLancer]

"...British-produced, four-times-a-month Commando comics ..."

Mine were Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos, Sergeant Rock and Easy Company, and .. the tops ..

The Haunted Tank

[AzSteven]

How does Superman ending up in the USSR change Batman's past?

The Soviet Batman is not Bruce Wayne; he is the child of dissidents whose parents are killed by the state after being detected by Superman. In his efforts to escape, he was trapped in a room or cave full of bats, and became obsessed with revenge against the state and its crimes.

Actually, the book is pretty good. If the author was trying to draw parallels with GW, he failed. The book is pretty clear on the point that the Soviet system, Superman-style, exists and succeeds only by changing its people into robots. It is the fragmented United States and Lex Luthor that end up saving the world from Super-USSR and creating a near-paradise society based on freedom.

[Cicero]

This would be amusing if it weren't still another way in which our children's minds are being twisted. Instead of being exposed to simple but real models of heroism, they are being exposed to cynical satire or twisted role models.

It happened with children's books around the time of Judy Blume. It has happened with the movies, where very few real heroes are portrayed outside the work of Mel Gibson and a few others. Even when a character behaves heroically, he has to do it with a cynical laugh.

I think one reason (among many) why Tolkien is so popular is that he shows genuine heroism of all kinds and degrees. It's a rare commodity.

There was a theory that after 9/11 cynicism and coolness would go out of fashion. If they did, it was only for a couple of weeks.

[Esther Ruth]

Superheroes for saving Saddam?
Brent Bozell (archive)

September 19, 2003

It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Comic-book superheroes have gone into the liberal political indoctrination business.

The September issue of the DC Comics book "Justice League of America," or "JLA," presents Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as U.N.-promoting paper dolls for a thinly disguised propaganda play against President Bush's war on Saddam Hussein.

The story begins with a "napalmetto" attack on home soil. President Lex Luthor -- how nice, a supervillain standing in for President Bush -- connects the terror attack to "Qurac" and says the "Joint Chiefs are recommending military pressure." Wonder Woman protests: "International law and the U.N. Charter forbid unprovoked action against a sovereign nation." She then lectures, "We cannot simply disregard international ethics to depose him ... what message does that send to the world?"

(Ten-year-old Johnny must be on the edge of his seat reading this, don't you think?)

The scene then changes to people mobbing a supermarket for olive oil because the "Department of Defense" insists it will help in a napalmetto attack. Clark Kent tries to reason with Lois Lane that "the connection to Qurac still isn't clear," but Lois replies, "Every White House official is talking about prevention." Then, Gotham police use a false alarm to shut down the subway system and obstruct peace marchers, and a cop clubs a protester in the face as he says, "It's not safe for ya to risk gettin' badly hurt to attend a lousy cowardice rally!"

Superman then tells President Luthor that millions of people are protesting worldwide. "No one supports what you're doing," says Super Pollster.

"I hear them," says the evil president, "but I can't listen to them." When Superman says perhaps an attack could be delayed for more proof, the president retorts, "Where do you get off questioning me? ... It's unbecoming to question your president during times of international unrest." He says Batman and Wonder Woman were removed from the room because "they were confusing you with unpatriotic talk."

A subsequent picture has an enormous video image of a wide-mouthed president appearing ready to eat a shadowed Superman as he bellows, "America will bear the burden alone, if necessary."

Superman vows, "I will know the truth, and I will not feel ashamed or be called un-American for demanding it."

The storyline ends with the reader discovering it's all been a nightmare Superman's been having through a Martian therapeutic device. He recalls the dream with horror: "Luthor took the U.S. to war, despite our protests ... he killed everything we stand for." Superman laments being "paralyzed with indecision ... and the world paid the price." Superman shouldn't be so hard on himself. Being paralyzed by indecision is how the United Nations usually responds.

The Internet message boards sizzled and seethed when the JLA book hit the stores. "Maybe Clark Kent is French after all," joked one. But mostly, comic-book fans prefer traditional fantasy situations, not the action-free, didactic lectures offered by JLA writer Joe Kelly. "Someone needs to remind him that these are superheroes with outrageous powers and shouldn't be bogged down in political situations all the time," said one. In other words, can we do without Superman as Cyrus Vance and Wonder Woman as Madeleine Albright? Can they kick butt instead of lecturing on international law? Do they get to engage evil, or do they have to wait for a subpoena from The Hague?

In an interview, Kelly explained his Superman as Ted Kennedy with muscles: "I believe that he believes in an idealized America. One that operates above boards, truly does embrace diversity, and cares for its downtrodden, but not because he's naive, but because it IS possible." As for the super-villainous president, Kelly opined: "Luthor represents duplicity to Superman, so to keep it personal, it makes the most sense to use him." Why the blatant (or if the word fits, cartoonish) propaganda? Kelly acknowledged his agenda: "I think that comics are a much more powerful medium than people imagine, and in certain circumstances, it's appropriate to use them to discuss political issues."

Sadly, DC is not alone in the liberal-revisionist comic-book world. The other giant, Marvel Comics, has also transformed Captain America, the former Nazi-fighting hero, into a brooding listener to a series of post-Sept. 11 lectures against America's "empire of blood."

But in the real world, it's not all an apocalyptic vision of rogue presidents and policemen bashing peaceniks who alone hunger for the truth. It's not a grim vision of media outlets and citizens reacting like sheep to Pentagon directives, and then, illogically, at the same time, a world rising up in unanimous protest against American military action. In the real world, people want a strong defense by action heroes, not just guilt-ridden lecturers waiting for universal agreement with their pacifist dreams.

Brent Bozell is President of Media Research Center, a TownHall.com member group. ©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc

[7thson]

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

In Batman #1, Bats says the following "As much as I dislike taking human life, this time it's necessary".

[weegee]

There's also some terrific artwork of Superman, a hammer-and-sickle emblazoned on his chest in place of the iconic "S," wearing a Red Army uniform and encouraging his "comrades" to throw off their shackles.

Except that this change throws out that S which came from his home planet, not the Earth. Do the commies FORCE him to do this? Not bloody likely.

Q.T./David Carradine/Bill explains this clearly in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Even Jerry Seinfeld would agree.

[weegee]

and how long the Soviet Union would have existed had Gorbachev not given it an unwitting push.

The writing was on the wall. 10 years longer tops (only could have been prolonged if the Clinton Administration had been there to opt for HELPING keep the Soviet Union together).